First Tier II compliant MAN Diesel set for delivery

The first Tier II compliant MAN B&W engine has finished production at HHI-EMD (Hyundai Heavy Industries Engine & Machinery Division) in Korea and is ready for delivery.

The low-speed, two-stroke MAN B&W 6S50ME-C7 type engine will power a shuttle tanker currently under construction by Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. for Teekay. The ship is one of Teekay's eco-friendly Amundsen class of ships and Tier II compliance was necessary to meet DNV Clean Design Notation requirements.

MAN Diesel took a decision in June 2008 to relaunch its product portfolio, making all its engines compatible with the limits established by the the IMO Tier iI regulations. The relaunch was designed to preempt the January 2011 implementation of new IMO NOx emission limits.

Søren H. Jensen, Vice President and Head of Research & Development, Marine Low- Speed, MAN Diesel, says that though the Teekay 6S50ME-C7 is the first customer engine to be converted, the company is well underway with the remainder of its two-stroke portfolio, which will be Tier-II-ready in its entirety later this year.

"We know exactly what each engine requires," he says, explaining that making them Tier II ready is "only a matter of fine- tuning them on the testbed."

"We have already finalized agreements with our licensees to set aside the necessary time-slots for testing," says Mr. Jensen, noting that the compliancy program is only possible with the licensees help "as our broad portfolio means we cover a lot of engine segments, which in turn means there are a lot of engines that have to comply with Tier II's tough emission legislation."

The majority of adjustments required to make the engines compliant with Tier II are minor, internal changes influencing such characteristics as scavenging pressure, injection spray pattern and smaller combustion-room volumes.

Mr. Jensen says: "There are a lot of positives for customers here: they will get well-known, reliable technology that is optimally tuned and, as such, represents no investment risk. All changes are internal and customers won't notice any difference to the way the engines are run Ð everything will just continue as normal."

"Traditionally," notes Mr. Jensen," lowering NOx levels requires an increased fuel consumption but, with ME-engines, this can be minimized due to their rate-shaping injection profile capability. This provides for unlimited possibilities to adjust the injection profile compared to the on-off method favored by common-rail engines."

He concludes: "The market should also know that despite being currently occupied with Tier II compliancy, we are already looking beyond it to the next step, that is, Tier III, and full compliancy with its stringent emission levels by 2016."